The prevalence of Linguatula serrata nymphs in goats slaughtered in Tabriz, Iran.

ABSTRACT

During 1 year (April 2009-April 2010), the prevalence of Linguatula serrata (L. serrata) nymphs in liver and mesenteric and mediastinal lymph nodes (MLN) of 740 native goats of different sex and ages were examined in Tabriz, north west of Iran. Initially the organs were macroscopically examined for nymphal stage of L. serrata and then were digested by acid-pepsin method to further investigation. The prevalence rate was obtained 55.27%. The mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) in 334 (45.13%), the lymph nodes (LN) in 102 (13.78%) and the livers in 8 (1.08%) goats out of 740 were infected with L. serrata nymphs. The results indicated a high rate of infection of LN in goats in this region of Iran.